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U.S. drug officials warn police about Canadian generic oxycodone

After the expiry of the patent on OxyContin Nov. 25, American officials are on the lookout for an influx of cheap generic painkillers.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq rejected a plea from all provincial health ministers calling for her to at least delay approval until regulators can examine how oxycodone is abused.
(Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Tim AlamenciakStar Staff

Wed., Dec. 5, 2012

Top U.S. drug officials are warning police and border guards to be on the lookout for Canadian generic versions of oxycodone after approval was given to several drug manufacturers to begin making the pill.

The federal government recently opened the door for cheaper, generic versions of the drug known as OxyContin as its patent expired. The decision was made amid opposition from doctors, pharmacists, First Nations leaders and police chiefs.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq rejected a unanimous plea from provincial health ministers calling for her to at least delay approval until regulators can examine how the drug is abused.

“The issue of bringing in the generic form of oxy in an easily tampered formula … is a national and serious problem. It requires a national solution. Now we’re finding that it’s actually an international issue,” Matthews told reporters Wednesday.

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“We heard last week from the governor-elect of Montana, now we’re hearing from the U.S. government. This is a very, very serious problem with very, very serious consequences for people.”

Six companies recently received the go-ahead to begin manufacturing generic versions of oxycodone.

“While Canadian officials are taking steps to address prescription drug misuse and will be monitoring the issue closely, the potential exists for diversion into the United States because the old formulations, which are easier to abuse, are unavailable in the United States,” said a notice issued by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, putting police and border guards on alert.

U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske called Canada’s health minister to discuss the situation and offer help. He and Aglukkaq had a “very positive conversation,” according to Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesperson for the czar’s office.

Montana’s attorney general Steve Bullock, the governor-elect, sent a letter to Aglukkaq in November urging her to reconsider.

“Generic oxycodone, as you know, would be manufactured and sold in a non-tamper-resistant version,” he wrote. “Studies have shown that the tamper-resistant changes OxyContin manufacturers have made to the drug have resulted in less abuse among addicts.”

The original version of OxyContin was prone to abuse because crushing it circumvented the time-release feature, offering an immediate, intense high. Last year the drug’s manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, released a new version called OxyNEO, designed to be harder to crush and snort or inject.

The generic versions that have been approved are based on OxyContin, not OxyNEO.

The United States only sells a tamper-resistant version of the drug. A study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found that once the U.S. outlawed easily-abused oxycodone, prescriptions for the Canadian equivalent increased fourfold at pharmacies near the Detroit-Windsor border.

Health Canada has introduced new regulations governing the sale of oxycodone, including rules that require pharmacies to report surges in prescriptions.

Dr. Peter Selby, clinical director of the addictions program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said monitoring isn’t sufficient and that tamper-resistant forms of the drug have been demonstrated to work.

“We go forward with this policy at our own peril and at the peril of others in society,” said Selby.

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